Miami Dolphins Talking Points: Beware the Pats’ tight ends

Some things don’t change. Tight ends had their way with the Dolphin defense routinely last season, and after three games the same has been the case this year. That’s where we start our talking points for Thursday:

1. New England’s tight ends have to be a major concern for safety Yeremiah Bell and the linebackers.

Visanthe Shiancoe of Minnesota and Dustin Keller of the Jets both led their teams with six receptions apiece against the Dolphins. The Patriots have a pair of rookies at the position in Rob Gronkowski and former Gator Aaron Hernandez, but the two have solid numbers between them, Hernandez catching 13 passes for a team-high 211 yards and Gronkowski snagging five for 58 and two TDs.

When asked about repeatedly being targeted by opposing offenses, Bell said, “If you were out there wouldn’t you do the same thing? Tight ends are having success, so you should come back to it.”

If there’s a positive in all this, it’s that all of Keller’s catches came in the first half, so the Dolphins apparently made some good adjustments as the game went on. With the biggest key to victory Monday night being stopping Tom Brady, keeping the tight ends under wraps will be significant.

2. Davone Bess is once again finding his niche as a first-down machine.

Of the 13 receptions Bess has made this season eight have gone for first downs, a .613 mark that is up slightly from his .594 career percentage. He was an incomparable 6-for-6 against the Jets last week, the final one coming on the drive on which Miami drove 64 yards in just five plays before Chad Henne threw an interception from the Jets’ 5.

Bess lines up in the slot as the third wideout on most plays, and with the two corners going against Brandon Marshall and Brian Hartline, he faces either a nickel back, a safety or even a linebacker on most plays. His excellent hands were on display Sunday, though one of his sideline catches would have been ruled out of bounds had the Jets challenged the play.

With 13 catches in three games, Bess is off the pace that resulted in him finishing with a team-high 76 catches last season. With Marshall as Henne’s top target, that was undertstandable. But he’s still a viable threat and important cog in the offense.

3. Ricky Williams needs to cut down on the fumbling.

When Williams lost a fumble coming out of the end zone against Minnesota, he insisted it was a mistake that would be corrected. So what happens? He loses the ball twice against the Jets, though Lousaka Polite recovered the first one and his knee was ruled down on a replay of the second.

Coach Tony Sparano said Williams should have had both arms around the ball on the fumble in Minnesota, a play on which the Vikings were sure to be grabbing at the ball.

“We’ve just got to do a better job,” Sparano said. “Does it concern me? Yes.”

Only five teams have had fewer than the three lost fumbles the Dolphins have had this season. But seeing Williams and Ronnie Brown coughing it up cannot be a comforting sight for the coaching staff.